“W-Why?” Aiden lost his confidence in front of Reiko. He was shocked when he heard Reiko mention targeting Snow. He asked, “My brother is into her.” “That’s right. It’s because your brother is into her that she has to die.” Reiko opened her palm, watching as the broken glass slipped through the seams of her fingers. She explained coldly, “The woman whom the young master of the Krad family, the chief commander of the South River Strategic Department, likes, has lowered herself to serve a live-in husband as a nameless follower. “If the news got out, not only the Krad family would be embarrassed, but I also believe Chief Commander Krad would feel insulted. There are things he wanted to do but could not. “Aiden, your brother is your senior and as the younger sibling, you should know how to share the burden.” She spoke with an alluring tone, providing Aiden with a reason to execute her plan. She made it sound like Aiden would be betraying his brother if he did not agree or e
Reiko curled her lips as she explained. Even Aiden had to admit that her proposal was extremely tempting. As a core member of the Refined Blade Clan and having the full support of Sanwell Finances, her words held massive weight. If the Krad family could strengthen their relationship with Ryokan, then it would mean having extremely powerful foreign support. As for patriotism, that was not within Aiden’s consideration from the start. However, Aiden dared not simply agree to let Reiko matchmake Anzu with Aaron, his brother. “Reiko, if Anzu held such a prestigious position, why would she be under Siberian’s command in the first place, serving as a secret killer?” A quick thought later, he further explained, “I am not judging or suspecting Anzu, but I just have to get this clear. You know my brother has a high standard for women. Many women from different powerful families tried to ask him out, but he never showed any interest. “Snow was the only one good enough to capture h
Reiko nodded at the humble Aiden, showing her approval. Aiden asked, “But Anzu is captured. How are we going to rescue her from Kaze Lee?” Senji and his men, almost fifty of them, were wiped out. It was impossible to ask Kaze to hand over Anzu without a fight. In fact, Aiden could only hope that Kaze had not killed Anze in a fit of rage. Reiko said, “We need to use Snow Frost to make it happen. Both their men and Anzu are in Bronze Sparrow, along with a formidable figure guarding Snow. If I’m not mistaken, he’s the same man who recently started as her bodyguard. “That’s why we have to lure her out.” She narrowed her eyes and nonchalantly continued, “We have to find a reason for Snow to leave Bronze Sparrow alone. And then, we will lure Kaze Lee over. “Given his cautious personality, he would surely bring the powerful bodyguard along. Then, Bronze Sparrow would be guardless and we could send our men there to rescue Anzu. “When Kaze arrives, Snow would already be dead a
When Kaze first arrived at Riverbank and visited Lock at his family gathering, Wesley presented the family with a few boxes of blood bird’s nest, which the family cherished and appreciated. Now, Ryna swept the boxes to the ground and bellowed, “Get out! No one wants your stupid gift! We can afford it ourselves! Compensate the value loss of our house? How are you going to do that? “Are you going to give us your villa at Wyomspring?” She shouted at the top of her lungs as she was irritated by Kaze’s words. Kaze crouched down to pick up the presents and calmly said, “The villa was given to me by the mayor, I can’t just simply give it away. But, if you want, I can rent it to you for a long-term stay.” “Long-term stay?” Ryna got even more furious. “Kaze Lee, so this is the compensation you are talking about? Are you looking down on us? Who wants your stupid villa? Get out! Don’t let me see you again!” She slammed the gate in his face and went off. Cyan was not as angry as he
“Snow? Emerald Bull Palace?” Cyan only recovered after Kaze got into the car. Her expression shifted a few times before she ran over to stop him from closing the car. “Something happened to Snow?” “Yeah. Take your hand off, I’m heading there now.” Kaze already started the car. Bump! Cyan quickly opened the back door and got into the rear seat. “I am going with you!” Kaze did not have time to ponder what Cyan had in mind. He simply said, “Sit tight.” Vroom! The Ferrari that Sky treated like a baby sped off with a loud roar. Cyan was shocked by the sudden acceleration. She screamed, “Slow down! You really think speeding can save Snow in time? Who do you think you are?!” Kaze did not reply and he did not slow down either. If anything happened to Snow, going after the killers would no longer be meaningful. His priority was to stop the worst from happening. Cyan was shocked at first but when she realized Kaze was a really good driver and the car sped off smoothly,
Cyan blurted out strings of words, but Kaze barely reacted, not even a frown. His eyes were fixated on the road as he continued to speed through the traffic. His mind was calculating the fastest route to get to Emerald Bull Palace. As for Cyan’s words, he did not even listen to them. Cyan was annoyed that Kaze ignored her. She grunted coldly and said, “Kaze, stop wasting your energy. When you get to Emerald Bull Palace, it’s already too late. I have already texted Draig and he already replied. He’s been training there for the past two days. “You should know that Draig is the best candidate to save Snow because he can do it with just one call. If I were you, I wouldn’t go there and ruin things for them. They are made for each other. “Besides, when you offended that Ryokanian back at our place, Draig was beaten and he didn't hold you responsible. You should know that if not for me, convincing Draig not to hurt you because it would leave a bad impression on Snow, he would neve
The man looked at Snow and said, “You are from a rich background, like the most beautiful flower but the flower usually withers after a while. “No matter what you do, you should have a backup plan or leave some space for negotiation so that you won’t be in danger. You have to be careful of people who harbor malicious intent against you…” Backup plan? Snow wondered if the man was referring to the note he left for Albert. People with malicious intent? Could it refer to her trip to Emerald Bull Palace as being interfered with by bad people? Snow thanked the person in charge and then left Tri-Clarities Court. When she was at the exit, another man who worked at the place came over to her and bowed. He asked, “Are you Ms. Snow Frost?” Snow was slightly taken aback before she nodded. She came to Emerald Bull Palace because she received a message from her mother, May. Her mother informed her that she fled the Frost family and was hiding at Emerald Bull Palace. May asked f
Feeling the serene and meditative atmosphere in the small court, the anxiety and alarm in Snow faded a lot. The small side court should be a temporary lodging spot for the worshipers when they came to pay respect and it lacked the liveliness and crowd. When Snow was young, she used to accompany her mother to visit different churches and temples. This particular small court was something that her mother would prefer. Could her mother really be here? Creek! The wooden door in front of her opened up. Out came a woman whose hair was tied up high and dressed in black and red traditional Ryokanian wear. She wore a pair of clogs and had a sheathed katana in her hands. When she came over to Snow, she put her hands before her waist and bowed at Snow. “Pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Frost. I am Ali Uehara.” A Ryokanian? Snow frowned. She looked past the woman and realized the wooden door had been shut silently. Her expression shifted but she did not react recklessly. She
“Give me an answer. Are you taking the job? If you are, you should sort out your affairs. Don’t bring your personal feelings to work.” Snow was not the type to go easy on fragile women. If Leah did not have what it took, she could be forced to leave the company. Nevertheless, Katie had left a lot of assets to Leah. Even without work, Leah could very well survive. The girl would have trouble keeping the wealth, seeing that she was without power or connections. If Leah had a job, she would have the resources to hold onto her assets. Leah had seen the best and worst of mankind. She was once the center of attention, and now, everybody avoided her. It dawned on Leah that it was over for Katie. If Leah could not even keep a job, she would lose everything. “I didn’t know things would happen.” Leah never thought that Katie was capable of stabbing Kaze and her in the back. The thought of betrayal put Leah in distress. Kaze was a great guy who helped Leah a lot. Feeling ete
Leah got dressed and was ready to leave, but she did not know who to turn to. She thought about going to her wealthy friends to see if they could uncover anything through their connections. However, Leah could not get a hold of them. It dawned on Leah that loyalty would fade when power was gone. Even though Katie was just missing, intel spread around Butterworth very quickly. These people must have found out and have chosen to stay away. Leah had always been treated like royalty. Nobody had ever avoided her like the plague. Nevertheless, she had not been in touch with these friends since her injury. Now, in her attempt to contact them, she could not reach them. “Why is this happening? My good friends have gone MIA, and I’m getting silence from those who have been trying to connect.” Sitting on the couch, Leah looked out the window in despair. She tried to seek help with her mother’s search, but her efforts were futile. She could do nothing for her mother. All al
“I have to work hard starting today. But before that, I have to get some sleep.” Snow remembered that Kaze punished her to get some sleep. He said her face looked tired and pale, signs of how hard she had been working. It felt great being cared for. It was because of his kindness, Snow fell for Kaze uncontrollably. Yet she understood not all things were meant to be. After she returned home, she went to sleep immediately without talking to anyone. She only woke up in the afternoon after a comfortable and easy sleep. Next, she would have to work on many things, first being taking over Northborn Group. Katie’s disappearance had the company shaken, but it gave many others a chance. They tried to calm their subordinates down and contact the higher-ups for more information, hoping that they could replace Katie as the new CEO. Little did they know, their preparations would eventually fall short. Snow and her secretary arrived at Northborn Group in the afternoon, and her a
“Worried about the mercenaries? I’ve taken all of them out and anyone with a sane mind would know by now not to come after me. Why would they make the same mistake again?” Kaze killed all the mercenaries. There was no one else the mastermind could send after him anymore. Even if there were, they would have to reconsider it after what had happened. Taking out the mercenaries in silence was a strong showcase of his strength. Once the mastermind found out, he or she would definitely stay away. Besides, Kaze had decided to continue his journey to Westeros without telling anyone. He could board a random flight to his destination, and no one would ever know. “Take me to the airport,” Kaze said to the driver. He and Snow were in the rear seat. “When you go back to Butterworth, don’t rush things. Now that Katie has made a mistake and is forced to step down, you can take over Northborn Group,” Kaze said. “Speaking of Katie, after I locked her up, her daughter, Leah, came to me
Miguel stated his strength so that Kaze and Snow would look at him differently. “That doesn’t mean we have to choose you.” Snow saw nothing stellar in him. Snow’s harsh words surprised Miguel and left him deeply displeased. Yet when he looked at Kaze, he dared not say a word. “I can work hard. Even if I am not qualified now, I can work toward that goal.” “Of course, you are not qualified now. You need to improve yourself to meet the basic requirements. Then we’ll talk about you joining us.” Snow just wanted to get this matter over and done with, so she handed Miguel her name card. “When you think you are qualified, you can give me a call.” Since she would eventually take over the largest force in Butterworth, she needed to build a team of her own—one she could truly trust. Miguel might just be an ordinary man who looked fierce but he was courageous and had the potential to be better. “Can I follow him instead?” Miguel took the name card and learned Snow’s name. He
“You did well,” Kaze praised Miguel. It was not easy for someone to fire a gun and take a life, even when he had basic training. Though without the proper technique and training, the shot was nothing stellar. “Really?” Miguel was thrilled by the praise. He might be tall and fit and have arms full of tattoos, but he had never gotten into a fight before. He was happy that someone he admired praised him. It made his day even more than escaping alive. Kaze wanted to continue but the cars had arrived. He walked forward and revealed himself in front of the headlights. The hostages were scared. They stepped back, some of them entered the hangar once more and tried to shut the door. Miguel stood in their way and stopped them from closing it up. “What are you doing? Kaze is still here and help has arrived. Stop hiding,” he said. He detested their selfish behavior. Kaze saved them but they did not even thank him. They even continued to suspect Kaze’s identity. Their be
“How dare those men hijack the plane and take Kaze. They must be punished…” Despite her grumbles, Snow grew anxious. “Given Mr. Lee’s capabilities, he won’t be hurt.” The agents around her tried to comfort her. They believed she was being too nervous. “I know, but we as subordinates have failed him by allowing this to happen. We have to do our best to make up for the mistake, and not rely on Mr. Lee to get out because he can.” Snow drowned in self-blame and regretted not being able to help. It was her negligence that allowed the hijacking to happen. “But there’s nothing you can do now. It’s late. Even the hijackers need to rest. They won’t do anything yet.” “It’s because the hijackers need to rest that we have to hurry and beat them to it. That’s the only way to solve this matter!” “But we’ve searched high and low and didn’t find anything. No one knows where they have gone. Even if they transported the passengers via buses, we didn’t see any tracks.” The agents discu
Kaze breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly went over to Miguel and pressed his hands with the gun down so that it would not misfire. “Good job.” “Thanks.” Miguel curled his lips into a nervous smile. He frequently trained in the gym and mixed martial arts but had never encountered any real-life incident before, thus being inexperienced. Fortunately, his mentality was stronger than the others and allowed him to act accordingly. “I’ll be taking the gun. This is self-defense, you won’t be charged and you won’t need to take responsibility,” Kaze said. Miguel’s pale face looked relieved. “What should we do now? Are there more of them?” Miguel dared not let go of the gun, worried there might be more enemies. “I’ve counted the numbers and this guy here should be the last one.” He then took the gun from Miguel’s hands. “Really? Gosh! That was crazy! I was so terrified!” Miguel finally loosened up and let his instinct take over. His heart was pounding so fast that it
Manson came over and saw the mercenaries lying in their own puddle of blood. The gore shocked him and made him sick. He tried his best to hold back the urge to throw up as it would attract attention. “Don’t look if you can’t take it! Don’t make things worse!” “Yeah! Professor! Grow a pair of balls!” “I have never seen dead bodies like this before!” he explained with a flush of embarrassment on his face. “Can we go out now and run away?” The hostages were eager to leave as things had settled down outside. They thought the danger was over. A dead mercenary was inside the container with them and they were still horrified. Once the others found out about this, the hostages would be shot to death. “If you want to die, be my guest. The moment you step out, you’ll be shot!” Callahan said as he looked at the others scornfully. One of the hostages had already put his hand on the handle of the door and was ready to dash out, but he quickly pulled his hand back after listening